Friday, June 22, 2012

Throughout our nation’s history, there have been rancorous
divides between political parties, with one party using filibusters,
parliamentary tactics, media pronouncements, and even impeachment as tools in
its attempts to thwart the efforts of another.But when it comes down to it, common sense usually prevails, and aside
from the Civil War, politicians have been willing to reach some form of consensus
for the good of the country.After all,
despite their political pandering, most people in public office want to do what
is right…at least that’s what I have always believed.

Now, I’m not so sure, because there are movements afoot to
quash any candidate or office-holder who is willing to compromise with his or
her political opponents.Recently,
members of the Tea Party succeeded in convincing a fickle electorate to defeat
Senator Richard Lugar, primarily because of his propensity to compromise.They almost defeated Orrin Hatch for the same
reason.As a backlash, there is a
movement brewing in Democratic circles to tell President Obama to adopt a
policy of “no compromise with the Tea Party.”

If the old maxim is true that “an eye-for-eye and
tooth-for-tooth would lead to a world of the blind and toothless,” then it only
seems reasonable that continued pronouncements of “no compromise” will
eventually lead to no communication at all.When the famous Senator Henry Clay was referred to as the “great
compromiser” in the early 1800s, the term “great” was not being used
sarcastically.In fact, many believe
that without Clay, the nation would have fallen apart way before the Civil War,
and may not have been able to recover.It’s not coincidental that he died eight years before that war began.

As a more recent example, it seems clear that were it not
for the efforts of Senators like Edward Kennedy and Orrin Hatch working their
respective sides of the aisle, many of the successes of the past 50 years might
not have occurred.Now those senators,
and others like them, are either dead, defeated, or aging, and those coming
behind them seem to offer a different take on the nature of consensus.

I am currently torn as to whether or not to vote for Scott
Brown, if for no other reason than he seems willing to compromise.But if his election will provide more power
to other Republicans more strident in their beliefs, he may have to be a
casualty.I’m waiting for the
Massachusetts Senate debates to learn if Elizabeth Warren will be open to hearing
all sides of an issue before making a decision.While I agree with her on many issues, I will not vote for her if I
believe her election will lead to greater divisiveness.

So what I am proposing is that reasonable people make this
their litmus test: if a candidate is willing to compromise, even slightly, for
the good of the country, and he or she demonstrates that willingness in action,
that candidate should be worthy of consideration at the ballot box.If not, we may be headed down a path from
which there is little redemption.